1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to an arrangement of foot operated pedals for a motor vehicle which are connected with a power assist or mechanically powered device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In motor vehicles which have a clutch pedal and a brake pedal that are each operated by an operating lever, two foot-actuated operating levers are located next to one another, wherein the brake pedal is located on the right-hand side and the clutch pedal is located on the left side. The brake pedal is connected by a tappet or push rod to a first power booster which transmits the actuating forces of the brake pedal to the master cylinder which in turn transmits the actuating forces to a slave cylinder or brake cylinder which is arranged at the individual brake. The power booster usually has a diameter of magnitude such that the arrangement of other power boosters for the actuation of the clutch in the same horizontal plane of the foot space is prohibited. Currently known master cylinders which are connected with the operating lever for the clutch have no power boosting for actuating the release of the clutch. Instead of using a power boosting device at the foot pedal, the release of the clutch in prior art devices is effected by an externally arranged electric, hydraulic, and/or pneumatic source in response to a slave cylinder actuated by the master cylinder. The external source actuating the clutch is adjusted in response to a lever multiplication with respect to the master cylinder actuated by the operating lever such that a sufficient adjusting force is available over the entire path of the operating lever with respect to the above-described release path of the clutch. The lever multiplication is determined by the connection of the master cylinder, via a push rod, to a position on the operating lever which causes a path reduction in relation to the portion of the operating lever that the operator actuates. This enables the construction of relatively compact master cylinders, especially with respect to their cross-sectional dimensions. This, and the partially exposed position of the master cylinder arranged at the operating lever, leads to the current customary construction of master cylinders with small diameters and large lengths.